Hello! Welcome to today’s Bible study on Genesis 25. According to Bible scholars, the events of Genesis 25 took place approximately between 2006 B.C. – 1978 B.C.
I encourage you to turn to Genesis 25 in your Bible. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and study Genesis 25 with me. I mention this in all the Bible Studies because it is through the Holy Spirit that we get fresh revelation and knowledge to understand the word of God. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know.
In this bible study, I am not going to paste the verses and highlight them in purple, as I did with all the previous studies. This is to make things easier for you to read and keep up with. Let me know, in the comments, if you like this layout and format of bible study. I suggest you to open your bible to refer to the verses and follow the commentary side-by-side here on this bible study.
In the Bible Study on Genesis 24, we read about how Abraham sent his servant to search for a bride for Isaac and the events that unfolded that led to the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah. In today’s Bible study on Genesis 25, we will read about Abraham and Keturah, Abraham’s Death, the birth of Esau and Jacob and Esau selling his birthrights to Jacob.
Without any further delay, let us study together Genesis Chapter 25, shall we?
Genesis 25 Outline
01
Genesis 25:1-6
Abraham marries Keturah
Abraham took another wife named Keturah, and together they had children and grandchildren. Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, his legal firstborn. He sent away his concubines with gifts to the east, far away from Isaac. Abraham ensured that no one would try to steal or take part in Isaac’s inheritance.
Interesting fact
There is no background about Keturah. Some Jewish teachings say that Keturah and Hagar are the same person and that Hagar was called as Keturah because of her uprightly conduct. Others dispute this fact and say that Keturah was another woman and not Hagar.
02
Genesis 25:7-11
Abraham’s death and burial – 1991 B.C.
Abraham lived up to 175 years and died at a good old age. Isaac, Abraham’s legal firstborn, and Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn, buried their father Abraham in the cave of Machpelah, where Sarah was also buried.
The Lord favoured Isaac (because he was the chosen one in Abraham’s lineage) after Abraham’s death, and he lived at Beer-Lahai-Roi.
03
Genesis 25:12-18
Ishmael’s Genealogy
Ishmael lived up to 137 years and died. Ishmael begot 12 sons through his Egyptian wife. They were the 12 princes of 12 nations, and their settlements were from Havilah as far as Shur, on the east of Egypt.
The Lord fulfilled His promise to Hagar, Ishmael’s mother as he had promised in Genesis 21. He had promised her to make a great nation out of her son Ishmael because he was also Abraham’s seed.
04
Genesis 25:19-28
Esau and Jacob’s birth – 2006 B.C.
Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. She was also barren like Sarah, his mother. Isaac implored the Lord to intervene on Rebekah’s behalf.
The Lord answered Isaac’s prayers after 20 years and Rebekah conceived twins. However, the twins fought and struggled within her womb. Rebekah was so concerned about this and she sought the Lord for guidance. The Lord replied that two nations were inside her womb and the two would be separated from each other. He said that the older twin would serve the younger one.
Rebekah gave birth to Esau and Jacob. Esau, the eldest, was red and hairy. He was named Esau because he was hairy. Jacob came after Esau, gripping his heel. The signs indicated right from the beginning that Jacob was the chosen one and that he would rule over Esau just as the Lord had told Rebekah.
When the twins grew up, Esau hunted, whereas Jacob was a quiet man. Isaac loved Esau because he ate what Esau hunted. Rebekah, however, loved Jacob.
Note
Esau and Jacob were born even while Abraham was alive. They were about 15 years old when Abraham died.
05
Genesis 25:29-33
Esau sell’s his birthright to Jacob – 1978 B.C.
It happened so that Jacob cooked a lentil stew one day and Esau returned home exhausted from hunting. Being hungry, he asked Jacob for a pot of stew. Esau was also called Edom because he was red. In Hebrew, the word Edom means red. Jacob asked for Esau’s birthright in exchange for a pot of stew. Esau replied that he was about to die out of exhaustion, and he didn’t care about his birthright; Hence, he sold his birthright to Jacob in exchange for a pot of lentil stew and some bread.
Jacob made Esau take an oath to sell his birthright. Usually, the inheritance of the father is passed to the first born. Since, Esau sold his borthright o Jacob, now, legally, all of Isaac’s inheritance belonged to Jacob – the second-born twin.
Lessons that we can learn from Genesis 25
Genesis 25:6
When God gives you an inheritance, you are to guard it and not allow anyone, including family or friends to steal it from you. In Genesis 25:6 Abraham sent away his concubines so that they or their offsprings wouldn’t steal Isaac’s inheritance or try to claim and divide the inheritance with them, thereby becoming a burden to Isaac. Abraham guarded his son Isaac’s inhertiance. Likewise, we are to guard our inhertiance from the Lord, whatever that maybe for each of us.
Genesis 25:12-18
The Lord is faithful to His promises. He promised Hagar to make a great nation out of Ishmael whom she had begot with Abraham. The Lord kept His promise and made Ishmael’s sons as 12 princes of the 12 nations. When the Lord promises us something, He is faithful to fulfill it. We must learn to trust in His promises.
Genesis 25:33
Esau did a huge mistake byselling his brithright to Jacob. If only he knew the importance of his inheritance from Isaac, he might have not sold it for just a pot of stew. The lesson to learn here is not to let outer circumstances, or emotions or your flesh dictate what you should do, especially, when it comes to the things of God. Esau let his hunger affect him. A pot of stew and his hunger became more important to him that his birthright at that moment of time. It is also a lesson to not make decisions in haste based on what our emotions or our flesh is telling us.
Observation on Genesis 25:8
Though Rebekah was Esau and Jacob’s mother, she loved Jacob more. In my own humble opinion, this may have had something to do with the response she received from God when she prayed during her pregnancy. The Lord had told her that the elder would serve the younger. Therefore, Rebekah knew that Jacob was to reign over Esau and that the inheritance of Isaac would belong to Jacob.
Genealogy Charts
Below are the genealogy charts for Abraham and Keturah’s descendants and Ishmael’s descendants that I have prepared for you, so that it is easier to read all at once.
Conclusion
This concludes the bible study lesson on Genesis 25. I hope you learnt something from this free bible study and found it helpful in your Bible study journey. Feel free to share it and subscribe for more lessons in the future. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Until Next Time!